Age of the Audience

Conventional wisdom: the classical music audience has always been the age it is now. Reality: It used to be younger -- dramatically younger, in fact. Here's some evidence -- actual texts of old studies, links to NEA studies -- plus my blog posts on this subject.
Links (in progress):

How young the audience was in 1937:

Results of an audience study, showing a median age around 30

Sidelight: College students at the Boston Pops, in the 1930s and earlier

(from Margaret Grant and Herman S. Hettinger, America's Symphony Orchestras and How They Are Supported. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1940)

Age of the audience in the 1960s:


Results of a major foundation study: the median age was 38, for all the performing arts, and the authors ask why older people stop going to performing arts events (!).

(from William J. Baumol and William G. Bowen, Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma. New York: Twentieth Century Press, 1966)

NEA studies, showing the audience getting older since the 1980s:
Richard A. Peterson, Pamela C. Hull, and Roger M. Kern, "Age and Arts Participation, 1982-1997"

 "1997 Survey of Participation in the Arts"

"2002 Survey of Participation in the Arts"

"Age and Arts Participation With a Focus on the Baby Boomers" (executive summary; shows a dramatic drop between 1982 and 1997 in the proportion of younger people at classical concerts)

"The Arts and Civic Engagement" (shows a steady decline in classical music attendance by younger people between 1982 and 2002)
My blog posts about all this:

(coming)
March 10, 2008 1:16 PM | | Comments (0)

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Age of the Audience 
Conventional wisdom: the classical music audience has always been the age it is now. Reality: It used to be younger -- dramatically younger, in fact. Here's some evidence -- actual texts of old studies, links to NEA studies -- plus my blog posts on this subject. more

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